Reflecting on Reflecting: Fostering Student Capacity for Critical Reflection in an Action Research Project

Participatory forms of action research for community engagement require researchers to continually, critically reflect on the process and emerging findings. Yet, for many academic supervisors and students, this is a relatively new experience. This article is an account of the learning of one supervisor as she attempted to help doctoral students master this skill essential for the successful implementation of any action research project. A qualitative analysis of the data generated from students' written and oral reflections reveals that the various interventions were helpful in fostering student capacity for critical reflection on several levels, but also highlights the challenges students experienced as they grappled to learn the skill. This account of learning may be beneficial as a guide to other supervisors and students who are struggling to master the elusive skill of critical reflection.